


The House Has Its Eyes On Us

by JjdoggieS



Category: The Haunting of Hill House (TV 2018), The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: (if i write well enough), Adopted Children, Adopted Sibling Relationship, Adopted Siblings, Alternate Universe, Angst, Dark, Inspired by The Haunting of Hill House, It gets pretty dark, Multi, Mystery, SO, Slow Updates, just remember that, not everything is as it seems, take caution
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-18
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:00:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27621047
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JjdoggieS/pseuds/JjdoggieS
Summary: It had been years since they'd last seen each other, practically a decade since they'd last been together. But when a family torn apart by betrayal, is reunited in the aftermath of yet another tragedy in their family and forced to return to The House, there may be more unearthed about their own past than they'd ever want to know.
Relationships: Allison Hargreeves & The Hargreeves, Ben Hargreeves & Klaus Hargreeves & Vanya Hargreeves, Diego Hargreeves & The Hargreeves, Klaus Hargreeves & The Hargreeves, Luther Hargreeves & The Hargreeves, Number Five | The Boy & Ben Hargreeves & Klaus Hargreeves & Vanya Hargreeves, Vanya Hargreeves & The Hargreeves
Comments: 8
Kudos: 26





	1. The Haunting Of The Umbrella Academy

There was always something, off-putting, about their new summer home. Or as news outlets and the world better knew it as, The Haunted Umbrella Academy. 

That may have been partly, more like mostly, because of Allison. Allison Anderson (nee Hargreeves), the third of six children of Reginald and Grace Hargreeves, wife of director Patrick Anderson, mother of Claire Anderson, and critically acclaimed fantasy-horror writer, most well known for writing the fictional novel on her siblings’ fantasies in her book The Haunting of The Umbrella Academy.

And her book, The Haunting of The Umbrella Academy, is what seemingly spilt their family into two groups. Luther and her, the oldest and the third, were on one side while Diego, Klaus, and Vanya, the second, the fourth, and the sixth, were on the other side. 

Their youngest brother Ben, Klaus and Vanya’s triplet, more on that later, died. 

He died back in the summer of 2001, their summer at the Umbrella Academy, the last summer they had with their youngest brother and their mother alive and their father not imprisoned for the death of their mother. Again, more on that later.

The issue at hand was that the morning news had just told her, Claire, and Patrick that her estranged, and possibly murderer, father had died. He had killed himself, supposedly, and had been found hanging in their, definitely not haunted, practically abandoned childhood home.

“Allison,” Patrick called, taking a hold of Allison’s hands, pulling her attention back to her husband and daughter, “are you okay?”

Gently pulling her hands from her husband’s, Allison claimed, “Yeah, I’m fine.” Allison soon after pushed herself from their kitchen counter and excused herself from breakfast to make some phone calls.

The first call she had to make was to her oldest brother, Luther.

Luther and her had been like the best of friends in the house growing up. Despite being three years younger than him, Luther had always been the one she’d been closest to in the house. Klaus, Ben, and Vanya, being triplets, were always close. Ben and Klaus were nearly inseparable while Vanya and Diego found each other. The two were an odd pairing, to say the least, the second oldest and the youngest of six kids.

“Allison, you there?” Luther’s voice, much like Patrick’s had a few moments earlier, pulled her from her thoughts and back into the real world.

“Yeah. Hi. Sorry.” Allison said in quick succession, “I’m just trying to collect my thoughts. Have you heard?”

“About Dad?” Luther asked, “Yeah. Are you alright?”

Typical Luther. Solely based on the fact that he was the oldest, he always tried to be in charge and responsible of their siblings, something Diego had always despised with a passion. “Yeah, I’m good. I think.” Allison replied, “What about you? I know you were close to him.” 

Unlike their mother, who never made it obvious who were her favorite(s), their father made it quite apparent that Luther, and later Ben as well, were his favorite children, while Diego and his defiance and for no particular reason Klaus were picked as his least favorite. Allison and Vanya simply coasted in the midst, therefore were mostly ignored by their father.

“It’s weird.” Luther admitted, rather than lying like he normally would, usually hiding his own feelings to comfort and assure his siblings, “I was just talking to him like, two days ago. And he sounded fine, he was talking about how he was hoping to see all of us again.” Their father had just been released from prison a little less than a year ago, still under house arrest, then he died. He was nearing 60, and he’d killed himself. “Do you think the others know?” Luther asked her.

Allison bit back a laugh, it wasn’t likely their other three siblings knew of their father’s passing. Diego always worked nights at the gym he worked at, and was hardly ever awake this ‘early’ in the morning. Vanya tended to avoid watching or reading any news sources, claiming they always made her feel upset. And Klaus, if he wasn’t coming down from a high, was on the search for his next. “Somehow, I think we'll have to break the news to them.” Allison told him, “Could you call Diego? I’ll call Vanya, and she can find Klaus.”

Vanya and Diego always had a weird ability to find Klaus wherever he was, Vanya more so than Diego. They had always joked when they were younger that the twins, triplets, had some kind of a psychic connection; they always knew what the other two were thinking and feeling without a word or look being exchanged between them, and on top of that, they always just knew where the others were.

One time, Allison and Luther had been in the kitchen, talking in hushed tones as it seemed that the triplets, Vanya especially, could hear everything in and around the house. As they were talking, Klaus wondered in and refilled his little water bottle, he and Ben had been playing outside in the summer heat most of the day. 

And in an effort to get him to hurry up and leave, as he tended to dawdle, Allison asked him where Vanya was since she hadn’t seen or heard her only sister all day. Her little brother simply told her that Vanya was playing with Five in the playroom; whenever any of them asked the triplets who Five was, the triplets wouldn’t give them a straight answer, so they had all assumed Five was their imaginary friend. Klaus soon meandered out of the kitchen, returning to their backyard and their youngest brother Ben, without another word.

The odd thing about Five was that the triplets only ever talked to or mentioned him when they were at The Umbrella Academy. Whenever they’d go on vacation, or even just to the store or the doctor, Five never seemed to make an appearance. And after _the incident_ , when the five of them moved in with their Uncle Pogo, Five was never mentioned again.

When Allison returned from the memory to the present, she quickly dialed Vanya’s number, only now hoping it hadn’t been disconnected since the last time she’d called her sister. Thankfully, the ringing stopped when her sister answered, “Allison?” Vanya’s voice sounded quite dazed, and Allison now realized that while it was just after eight for her, it was five in the morning for her sister, “What’s wrong?”

“Hello to you too Vanya.” Allison scoffed back, why did she immediately think something was wrong when she called her?

“Oh, sorry. Hi Allison.” And just like that Vanya was acting like her nervous four year old self did whenever either their father was in the room or one of them questioned something she’d said or done, “It’s just that, we never, talk. And so, it’s a little, a little weird, for you to be calling me, you know, out of the blue.” So it wasn’t just Allison that noticed. And she couldn’t help but wonder if Diego and Klaus kept in contact with Vanya better than she did, Luther might not even have their sister’s newest number, “Just, sorry. Um, so, what, what’s up? How’s Claire? And Patrick?”

Allison couldn’t help the grimace that overtook her face when her sister mentioned her husband; Luther was the only one of her siblings who knew about her impending divorce with Patrick. Claire had been the only reason they’d stayed together the past three years, just after she’d released her book. But she couldn’t blame Vanya, like her sister noted, they hardly ever talked.

“They’re good.” Allison replied, deciding that it would be easier to build a conversation with her sister first before telling her about dad, “Claire is about to start kindergarten in a month or so. How have things been for you? Anything new?” God this was so awkward, it shouldn’t be awkward, it’s her sister, her baby sister.

“Um, it’s been, fine.” Vanya was a horrible liar, just like Luther. “Oh, um, Klaus and I moved into an apartment together recently.”

That truly surprised Allison, her brother Klaus never seemed to want any form of stability in his life once he turned eighteen and left. “Oh?” Allison asked her, letting her interest seep into her voice, “And how’s that been going?”

“Pretty good,” Vanya started, before telling her about how their brother had gotten a job last week, Vanya also found one a month or so ago, that they’d been living in their apartment for nearly two months now, and that they’d met Diego’s girlfriend over dinner last week, but gave her no name.

Their back and forth continued for a bit, Allison almost forgetting why she’d called her sister in the first place until Vanya asked her, “What did you call for exactly Allison? Not that I don’t like talking to you, it’s just. There’s usually a reason for you to be calling me.”

“Oh, um, right,” Allison really should have planned for this a bit better, “I’m not sure if you’ve heard yet but, Dad died, early this morning.”

There was a moment of silence as Allison presumed her sister was processing the sudden death of their father before Vanya suddenly told her, “I have to go.” before she was met with the dial tone a few seconds later. And the only thing Allison could wonder was ‘What the hell just happened?’ She hadn’t even been able to ask her sister to tell Klaus about it.

Allison brushed off any lingering surprise or confusion she had about her abruptly ended conversation with her sister, she pulled herself together and returned to her kitchen. Patrick had cleaned up the remnants of their breakfast and gone off to work for the day while Claire had moved to their living room, waiting for her babysitter to pick her up before Allison was supposed to go off to work.

Instead of going into work today, and likely the remainder of the week as well, Allison called into her office, telling the secretary that her father had passed and she’d be out of the office for a while. After getting some rushed condolences from the secretary, Allison hung up their house’s landline just as Claire’s babysitter, Samantha, pulled into the driveway.

Claire ran out the door to meet her, shouting a quick “Bye Momma! Love you!” before the front door closed behind her. And another minute or two later, Samantha’s car drove off with her daughter, leaving Allison in her silent, empty house, alone with her thoughts.

Trying to find something to focus on, Allison tried to think of a few memories she had with their father, hoping to think of one she could use for his funeral. For her eulogy, Luther likely doing one as well, knowing Diego wouldn’t be willing to speak of their father, especially highly of the man; and Allison knew Klaus would likely be too high or drunk to know what was happening while Vanya had never been able to handle getting lots of attention.

But, honestly, Allison really couldn’t think of any. There weren’t many memories in general before That Summer, especially any that included their father. Their father was hidden away in his office most of the time anyhow, but especially during the summers when the older kids were home from school. And after That Summer there father was locked away, then killed himself. Well. This was going to be harder than she thought.

* * *

_Allison wasn’t the slightest bit awake as Luther’s nails were digging into her wrist, dragging her out of The House. The wind was screaming outside, so loud she couldn’t hear whatever her brother was trying to tell her. “Luther!” Allison yelled, only to have Luther’s hand quickly cover her mouth as he sent panicked looks around the room. As if expecting someone, or something, to coming for them._

_When he didn’t see anything, he continued pulling her from what had been deemed ‘The Children’s Wing’ of the house and towards the stairs and foyer. He had a finger pressed to his lips, telling her to be quiet. Clearly, something was wrong, very wrong._

_Allison still hadn’t seen Diego, Klaus, Ben, Vanya, Mom, or Father. It scared her._

_As much as she wanted to ask Luther what was going on, the scared look on his face told her enough. She’d never seen him scared, not to this extent. And Allison thought it was best, and safest, to wait until Luther had deemed it safe before asking any questions._

_She didn’t need to as the moment they’d stepped out of the front door, Diego and Klaus were sitting in the car, already on and running, Father was holding Vanya, both looking upset, likely for different reasons, and there was no sign of Ben or Mom. “Father?” Allison asked, “Where’s Mom? Or Ben?”_

_Father’s eyes looked over to Luther and Allison, only now noticing their arrival. “Children, get in the car.” He ordered them, “We need to go, now!”_

_Their father being distracted for a second on two of his other children, gave Vanya an opportunity to free herself from his grasp and start running back into the house, screaming about how they could’ve leave without Five. Their father ordered them again to get into the car, telling Luther to make sure his siblings stayed in the car while he ‘dealt’ with Vanya._

_Allison stood watching, almost paralyzed, as Vanya slipped through the small gap of the still cracked open doors, Father close behind her. She could feel Luther tugging on her wrist, pulling her towards the car. But something in her, something she couldn’t quite explain, kept her rooted where she stood._

_Vanya shouted something from within the house, but it muffled through the screaming winds. Their father yelled something at her sister, then at someone else. There was a loud thud, and crack, and the scream that tore from her sister’s throat that haunted her for years later._

_Allison let herself be tugged into the car by Luther, Father exiting The House soon after, with Vanya shaking and sobbing in his arms, petrified. Father dropped Vanya onto Diego’s lap in the back seat, she didn’t move, and he got into the driver’s seat and drove off without another word. Mom’s minivan had Klaus, Ben, and Vanya’s car seats, as well as unofficially assigned seats for Luther, Diego, and Allison. Father’s car didn’t have any of that, it only had five seats for their eight member family, and the Hargreeves children hardly ever were allowed in the car._

_There was no talking, no noise besides choked breathing and the sobs coming from Klaus and Vanya. The oldest three Hargreeves children still didn’t know what was happening. What had happened._

_It was unsurprising when they pulled into Uncle Pogo’s driveway nearly 2 hours later. Their father had few allies and even few friends, and Uncle Pogo, who wasn’t even their uncle, was their father’s closest friend._

_During the drive, Klaus had cried himself to sleep, while Father, Luther, and Diego kept themselves awake, the latter two trying to figure out what had happened that could scare their father, and Allison felt herself getting more and more drowsy._

_Her eyes definitely closed for a moment, nearly asleep once more, when an ice cold, small hand wrapped around her fingers. Allison cracked her eyes open, finding her sister had shuffled across the car’s floor from Diego’s side to her’s, “Vanya?” she asked in a whisper, but the silence of the car made it feel as if she were screaming, “What are you doing?”_

_Vanya said nothing, her face showed no emotion, her eyes simply bore into Allison’s._

_“Are you okay?” Allison asked her, glancing between Diego, Luther, and Father, hoping for some sign of what she was supposed to do. Vanya still said nothing, unnervingly emotionless for a four year old. Allison barely caught the slight head shake her sister gave her, would’ve completely missed it if the coldness of Vanya wasn’t as concerning._

_Allison, not that she’d ever let any of her siblings do this before and on a rare occasion after, let Vanya crawl onto her lap, and held her sister to her, deluding herself that it was just to help Vanya get warmer. No four year old should be that cold after all. Allison hadn’t expected Vanya to practically curl into her, burying her little head into her shoulder, as if to hide herself from the rest of the world._

_In a matter of minutes, Allison could feel Vanya’s little body relax and her breathing even out, she’d fallen asleep. She wanted to check Klaus’s hand or his forehead, to see if he was as cold as Vanya was. Whenever one of the triplets got sick, the other two often soon followed, no matter if they were actually together or separated, it always happened. But, since Vanya had fallen asleep on her, Allison had to enlist the help of Diego._

_Once she managed to get her brother’s attention, as well as enlist his help, Diego took a hold of Klaus’s hand, obviously not expecting their brother’s hand to be as cold as it was. Allison told him that Vanya was cold too. But before either of them could talk anymore, their Father hissed at them to be quiet. They pulled into Uncle Pogo’s driveway, and all conversation ceased._

_Klaus and Vanya weren’t sick. But Mom and Ben were dead. Then Father went to jail. And they lived with Uncle Pogo for years before mostly going their separate ways._


	2. The House Is Alive And Watching

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Twi-Tri- _Siblings_ Vanya and Klaus learn about and prepare for Reginald's funeral. But more so, they have to prepare to go back _there_ , back to The House.

Once Vanya hung up the phone on Allison, any drowsiness from being awoken from her sleep by her sister was long gone, as it felt as though a rock had suddenly filled her stomach. The past few days she’d felt off, sensing something was wrong. Klaus felt it too, but neither knew what it was.

She stumbled her way from her room to Klaus’s, guilt filling every fiber of her being. “Klaus?” Vanya called as she pushed open her brother’s door. And when he didn’t move she called again, louder, “Klaus!”

Klaus fell out of his bed with a yelp, his comforter wrapped around his legs as he laid on the floor. Once he pushed himself off the floor and sat back on his bed, comforter still a tangled mess on the floor, Vanya told him, “Dad’s dead.”

Much like Vanya had when she’d heard the news from Allison, all tiredness and morning grogginess disappeared in an instant from Klaus. Instead, he was nearly tripping over his own feet in a rush to meet her at the door. “Van,” Klaus said, wrapping his lanky arms around his sister’s small frame, “there’s nothing you could’ve-”

“But I knew Klaus!” Vanya cried, no longer able to push back the tears that had suddenly sprung up in the corners of her eyes, “I, I saw that, that this was, was going to happen. And I didn’t do anything! I should’ve done something!”

“What would you’ve done Vanny?” Klaus asked, calmly whispering into his little sister’s ear, “It wasn’t your responsibility Vanya. There’s nothing you could have done to stop this. He was a fucked up person, a horrible father, and just a general asshole.” Vanya smacked one of his arms, she never liked it when he was nasty towards anyone, especially someone in their family, even if it  _ was _ towards their father. “But, it was also his choice. You had nothing to do with it.”

And when Vanya, inevitably, tried to take some of the blame for their father, the fucking asshole he was, killing himself, Klaus quickly and continuously reminded her that she was not responsible for anyone’s decisions, including his, besides her own and that the sooner she realized that, the less anxiety and stress she’d have.

Once he’d calmed Vanya down enough, she lead him into the kitchen as she set a pot of coffee on and pulled three mugs from the cupboard while Klaus stuck some bread in their toaster, flipped the stove on, and pulled a pan and their carton of eggs out. Vanya and Klaus switched places, Vanya cooking their eggs for breakfast while Klaus plated their toast, spreading some peanut butter on his and strawberry jelly on Vanya’s, and pouring coffee into the three mugs before setting their kitchen table.

With the table set for three, the two siblings settled into their chairs, Klaus pulling the third spot’s chair out. Enough for someone to sit in. Just barely, but enough.

Vanya picked at her eggs and toast, her stomach giving her the sense that if she tried to eat much of anything, she’d be seeing it again shortly after. Klaus on the other hand, easily eat his plate, and most of her plate once she slid it towards him, favoring to sip on her coffee. While it may have been odd to other people, some of their siblings included, simply sipping on her coffee while listening to Klaus talk to someone else helped to ground her in reality and not the ‘delusions’, as people liked to call them, that ran amuck in her mind.

The clinking of the plates being dropped into their sink, already nearly full of dishes, she needed to care of those soon, by Klaus pulled Vanya from whatever place her mind had wandered off to. “Klaus,” she called, “what do we do now?”

He paused, thought for a moment and said, “Nothing.”

“Nothing?” Vanya repeated, getting a nod from him. 

“Nothing.” Klaus confirmed, “We do nothing, wait until someone tells us when the funeral is, we go, pretend to mourn that asshole, then, once we’re done, we get to come back here, just the three of us, and carry on with our lives. Just like that.”

Vanya took a much needed calming and steadying breath before she repeated, “Just like that.” 

Klaus’s hands took a hold of Vanya’s upper arm as he told her, “Good. Now, while you go get your beautiful, adorable, baby self ready for the day and  _ I _ will call Di-di to figure out what we’re doing next in the- for the whole- you know, the  _ thing _ .”

Her brother was already walking off, heading back towards his room, as Vanya called after him, “You know Diego hates it when you call him that, and I’m not a baby Klaus! I’m  _ barely _ younger than you.”

“Still a baby Van! Always have been and always will be!” Klaus called back, promptly followed by his bedroom door clicking shut behind him.

Before returning to her own bedroom, intending to do as Klaus had instructed her to do, Vanya gave the kitchen a quick once over, the dishes in the sink and the chairs already pushed back into the table (she didn’t remember doing that). Since the kitchen looked well enough and  _ not _ a complete disaster, Vanya walked back into her room, hearing Klaus practically yelling into his phone at Diego as she passed. Rather than try  _ again _ to get her brother to use a quieter voice while on the phone, Vanya just went back to her room and changed from her pajamas into one of the hoodies and sweatpants she wore  _ nearly _ every day.

After quickly changing and making an attempt at running a brush through her hair, as well as a quick trip to the bathroom to brush her teeth and taking her daily anxiety medication, Vanya wandered into their living room, finding Klaus laying upside down on the couch, his long legs hanging over the back of the couch as he flipped through various channels on their tv. 

“Hey,” Vanya started as she dropped onto the couch next to Klaus, scaring the absolute shit out of him as she did, “what are you doing? And what did Diego say?”

“Oh, you know, beside the heart attack you just gave me,” Klaus told her, sending a half-hearted glare her way, “trying to find the news.”

Vanya grabbed the remote from him and switched it to the channel 5 news before asking, again, “What did Diego say? When you called him, just now.”

“Well, isn’t someone nosey?” Klaus teased. Vanya smacked his arm, nearly knocking him from the couch, before he added, “Alright, alright. Di-di said that he’d already talked to Lutherino and dear deceased Daddy’s favorite is planning for the funeral to be in two days.”

“Two days.” Vanya repeated, “Isn’t that kind of fast?” Klaus, even though he was still upside down, was giving her a bit of a pitiful look, prompting her to ask, “That’s not it, is it?”

Klaus shook his head, “It’s no.  _ And _ Luther wants to have it the Academy.”

“What? Why there?” Vanya questioned, even though it was unlikely that her  _ present _ brother would have the answers she was wanting, “I’m not, if it’s, if, if it’s there then I’m, I’m not, not going. I’m not.”

“You’re going Vanya.” Klaus told her, “Apparently it was in Reggie’s will that he was buried on the 'family plot’ on Academy grounds. And Diego’s picking us up tomorrow at 9, and he’s suspecting we’ll be at the Academy by 1.”

Already knowing her protests were feeble, Vanya still repeated in a grumble, “I’m still not going.”

“Diego’s already said he’ll carry your little ass to the car and the Academy if he has to.” Klaus countered.

She wouldn’t even have to see the building again until tomorrow, but the Academy had already consumed every single one of Vanya’s waking thoughts. It was as if even in death, their father had found a way to torment them from beyond the grave, forcing his remaining children (biological  _ and _ adopted) to return to the place that still haunted their dreams, filled them each with dread, and tarnished their few  _ good _ childhood memories  _ because of _ what had happened there.

No one would be thrilled to go back to where their mother and brother died.

* * *

_ Vanya always wanted to play with her older sister more. Them and their mother were the only girls in the house and it made sense in Vanya’s four year old head that they should be together all the time. Unfortunately for Vanya, Allison didn’t share the same sisterly sentiment and tended to prefer playing with Luther than with Vanya. _

_ On one of the odd days that Allison wanted to play with Vanya, mostly because Luther and Diego were helping Father with something, all Allison wanted to do was explore the large, fenced-in property their house was on. It didn’t sound like something that Allison would typically do, especially since they’d be walking through mud in most of the back yard, but evidently, she wanted to get ‘aesthetic’ pictures of stuff around their house with her new camera that Father had given her. Or so she claimed. _

_ While their feet squelched in and out of the mud, Allison, being over a foot taller and three years older had spotted something Vanya hadn’t noticed quite yet, and took off running towards it. And Vanya, desperate to spent time with her sister, chased after her, nearly losing her rain boots in the mud as she did.  _

_ When Vanya  _ did _ catch up to Allison, her sister was standing in front of the door to some shack that neither of them had seen before. “What’s in there?” Vanya asked, standing about a foot behind Allison, slightly scared of what might be waiting for them inside. _

_ “I don’t know.” Allison answered. _

_ “Well, are you gonna open it?” Vanya asked. _

_ Allison’s hand was already on the door’s knob when she hissed back, “What do you think Vanya? Why don’t you go play with Klaus and Ben if you’re scared?” _

_ “I’m not scared.” Vanya replied, neither believing for a second that she was anything but scared. She was scared of everything. Always had been. Father was trying to convince Mom to have her start some anti-anxiety medication. Mom didn’t think a four year old should be taking anything like that. It caused a lot of fights. “And I don’t want to play with them right now. I wanna play with you.” _

_ “We’re not playing Vanya.” Allison grumbled, the door was giving her quite a bit of resistance. It likely hadn’t been opened in a while. As her sister was trying to force the door open, Vanya had wandered to the side of the small shack, which her sister hadn’t noticed, finding a small hole in the wall that she could barely crawl through. “Why won’t this stupid door open?” Allison huffed, which was immediately followed by “Don’t tell mom I said that Vanya.”  _

_ Normally, when Allison told her younger brothers or sister to  _ not _ tell Mom something, she got some kind of response. But this time, she got nothing. “Vanya?” Allison called, and still, nothing. She turned from the door, scared of what (or who) she might find missing when she did, hoping to find her little sister standing scared behind her. And didn’t. “Vanya! Vanya where are you?!” Allison called, trying  _ not _ to panic quite yet because the last thing she needed was to scare Mom when Vanya was just playing hide and seek or some other stupid game little kids still played. _

_ This time, Allison  _ did _ get a response from her sister. But only after something loudly fell in the shack she’d been trying to get into, scraping along the metal wall, as Vanya screamed. Now Allison didn’t bother trying to stay calm in any way, and instead was screaming as loudly as she could “Mom! Father! Help! Help please! Luther! Diego! Anyone! Help me!” _

_ “Allison!” Vanya was sobbing and screaming louder than Allison had ever heard  _ anything _ come from her little sister ever, “Allison I’m scared.” _

_ “It’s gonna be okay Vanya. I promise.” Allison said, “Nothing, nothing’s gonna happen. Everything’s okay. You’re okay. Can you get out the same way you got in there?” _

_ “No.” Vanya sobbed, “It’s, something, something fell, in front of it.” _

_ Allison hadn’t heard the rustling grass or squelching mud as some of their family members approached, too busy trying to keep her four year old sister from scaring herself anymore as Mom, Klaus, and Ben all running towards them, Klaus and Ben wearing matching looks of fear. “Allison?” Mom asked, kneeling next to her daughter, “Allison what’s wrong? Where’s your sister?” _

_ “Mommy!” Vanya shrieked before Allison could say or do anything, “Momma I’m scared!” _

_ “Everything’s okay baby, just stay calm. Deep breaths.” Mom told Vanya, waiting until she could hear Vanya actually doing as instructed before turning to Allison, “Allison, I need you to go get your Father, Luther, and Diego, and have them bring Father’s tool box. Can you do that?” _

_ Allison nodded and took off back towards the Academy as Mom started giving Klaus and Ben some other directions. She wasn’t supposed to go in the basement right now, because there was some issue going on down there that Father, Luther, and Diego were trying to fix, but at the moment, there were more pressing things to worry about. “Father! Luther! DIego!” Allison called as she quickly descended the basement stairs, walking into the plastic covered basement, “Mom needs you to-” _

_ “Go upstairs this instant Allison.” Father ordered, his cold glare settled upon her while Luther looked upset and Diego looked angry. _

_ “But I, Mom need-” Allison started. _

_ But Father just ordered, “Now.” _

_ “Allison what’s wrong?” Diego asked, ignoring the pair of glares that were trained on him now rather than Allison. _

_ “Mom needs help outside with the, Vanya’s stuck in the-” Allison partially explained, Diego was already walking up the stairs past her. _

_ “Silence.” Father snapped, “Allison, go upstairs this instant and stay out of the basement or you’ll be grounded for the rest of the summer. Diego, if you go upstairs right now, you are not allowed to return back down here. Am I clear?” _

_ Allison, solemnly, replied “Yes sir.” while Diego, only two years older than Allison, only nine years old, told their Father “Good, this was a stupid project anyway.” before leading Allison back upstairs. Once they were upstairs, Allison only now realizing how stuffy the basement had been, Diego asked her, “What’s wrong Allison? What about Mom? And Vanya?” _

_ “Vanya and I were outside and, we found the, this shack thing and-” Allison explained, “I don’t even know how she did it but, Vanya found some way to get into it when the door wouldn’t open but now-” _

_ “She got stuck didn’t she?” Diego guessed. Allison barely gave him a nod before he tore off towards the garage, another place they were forbidden from going without parental supervision. Diego climbed up a shelf and grabbed the big toolbox that Father left, the one they  _ weren’t _ using in the basement, and carried it outside. Allison lead Diego to where Mom, Klaus, Ben, Vanya, and now Pogo, were waiting for them. “Luther and Father aren’t coming,” Diego told them, “what do you want me to do Mom?” _

_ Diego, Mom, and Pogo were able to pry open the door to the shack in a matter of minutes, using a crowbar, a wrench, and a mallet. Diego, being the smallest of the the three old enough to use the tools, was the one to reach into the shack and pull their little sister out. As soon as Vanya was back outside again, she ran from Diego and into Mom’s arms, who quickly scooped her up and carried her back to the house, Klaus and Ben following after. _

_ “Miss Allison, Mr Diego, it would be most wise to  _ not _ mention this happening again.” Pogo told them, Allison exchanging a confused look with Diego, neither saying anything before Pogo continued, “There are  _ strange things _ that happen around this estate, your father and I have been keeping a close eye on it for quite some time. It is the reason he chose to spend the entirety of the summer out here, with all of you.” _

_ “What does that mean Pogo? That strange things happen around here?” Allison asked, “I’ve never seen anything strange happen.” _

_ Diego added on, “Me neither.” _

_ Rather than actually answer anymore of the questions Diego or Allison could think of, Pogo simply told them, “You’ll understand when you’re older my dear children. Much older.” Before he walked back towards the Academy without another word. And he never spoke another word about it for the rest of the summer  _ or _ when they lived with him after that summer. _


End file.
